"You've got company." Gato said before muttering.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
Gato had ahold of Zuko by the cloth of his robe. He threw him down a hole that let to the crystal catacombs. Zuko grunted and yelled in pain as he was tumbling to the bottom.
"Zuko!" Soana yelled before looking to Gato.
"I trusted you!"
This angered Soana, making her stabbing gaze slice Gato sharply.
She started kicking at him with her feet when she realized she couldn't use her hands.
"Feisty one." The guy holding her chuckled before throwing her down with Zuko.
Soana grunted as each slam against rock, bruised and battered her terribly. She lost the air in her lungs when she crashed at the bottom and crashed into a crystal near the opening.
She gasped and coughed as Zuko frantically went to the princess to comfort her. He went to her side and made his arms pick her up and lay her across his lap.
"Soana, I'm so sorry for this."
She shook her head, slowly regaining her breath.
"Soana?" They both heard a girl speak who Soana didn't know, but had seen before.
"Why did they throw you in here?" She asked the princess with sympathy until she caught Zuko's narrowed gaze.
She sneered at him.
"Oh wait! I guess this is a trap, so that when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your Fire Nation clutches!"
While Soana closed her eyes, feeling a slight head ache forming, Zuko looked over his shoulder at Katara then back to the princess.
"You're a terrible person, you know that! Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Firelord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood."
Soana shook her head, so far being the only form of communication with Zuko since she couldn't speak so well after having the breath knocked out of her.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Katara."
Zuko spat, as Soana began to take shaky breaths, slowly recovering.
"I don't? How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me, personally. The Fire Nation took my mother away from me."
Although she felt unsteady, Soana started to move in Zuko's grasp, sitting up and moving away.
"That's....something...we have..in...c-common." Soana said shakily, catching Katara's attention.
It grew silent between the three. Katara stood up and looked at Soana, completely ignoring Zuko.
"I knew you were the princess the second I saw you. Your portrait is painted at the healer's igloo and the palace. You're Yue's sister, Arnook's daughter,"
Soana nodded.
"How could you leave your own tribe?" Katara asked.
Soana wanted to speak but felt too weak to do so. Instead, she just raised a brow at the water tribe girl who was nowhere near her own tribe.
"Yeah, I know I left mine to travel with the Avatar, but that's a different story."
"So was mine....sweetheart." She remarked.
"I ran...cause of..Zuko. But...lesson has...been learned."
"Then why don't you go back?"
She questioned.
The princess took a shaky breath.
"With the...war? Ba Sing..Se is...done. Azula took...over. The Fire...Nation patrol...the seas. I...barely made it...here in....one piece....before it got...heavily patrolled."
Katara looked in between her and Zuko, debating.
Soana noticed.
"He's c-changed..for m-me. He's...like..you."
She stood up and wiped her eyes as did Zuko who reached for Soana's arm to gently pull her to her feet.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you before." She said.
Zuko shook his head and held onto Soana's frail frame.
"It doesn't matter."
"It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face."
Zuko paused and looked away from both, Soana and Katara.
"My face. I see." He used his free hand to touch the scar on his face.
Soana saw the frown he presented and stared at him, disappointed that he felt ashamed about his scar. To Soana it was an excuse to fight against the Fire Nation for.
"No, no. That's not what I meant." Katara reassured.
"It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase a runaway princess and the Avatar forever."
He looked at Soana with his amber eyes.
"But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."
"Maybe you could be free of it." Katara said.
"What?" Zuko questioned as did Soana, mentally.
"I have healing abilities." She said.
Soana shook her head.
"It's a..s-scar. It can't..be healed."
Katara reached into the side of her dress and removed a blue vial and dangled it out to Zuko and Soana.
"This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but..."
Katara examined Zuko's scar as a rumbling noise erupted among the catacombs.
Suddenly a gust of dust and rock bursted through to reveal an Air Nomad boy and Iroh.
"Aang!" Katara said, cheerfully running to the boy and engulfing him in a hug.
The boy who's name was Aang narrowed his eyes at Zuko as Iroh engulfed him and Soana in his embrace.
They pulled apart at the same time before speaking.
"Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?" Zuko questioned Iroh.
"Saving you. That's what." Aang replied causing Zuko's angst to bubble to the surface.
He attempted to lunge at the Avatar but Iroh stopped him.
"Zuko, it's time we talked." Iroh looked to Aang then Soana. "Go with them and help their friends. We'll catch up with you, Soana."
She nodded and let go of Zuko to walk freely with Aang and Katara through the tunnel he had bended through earlier.
Running with them, they sprinted out into an opening with green crystals and waterfalls decorating the rock beautifully.
"We've gotta find Sokka and Toph!" Katara shouted before a blue hue had been seen behind them.
Aang saw it and earth bended a wall but it easily collapsed due to the power.
Behind the shot of blue was Azula pointing her finger with a smirk.
Katara went out from the side of the rock and bended the water from the waterfall to create a giant wave to drown her in, but Azula shot fire out it, resulting in the catacombs filling with steam.
As the steam rolled, Azula emerged from it and kicked blue flames from her feet, making the Avatar, Katara, and Soana stand in line and bend a giant stream of water to cover them from Azula's threatening strikes.
After Azula landed on a rock, Aang stomped his foot and crossed his arms in front of him to demolished the rock she was on.
Like an agile cat, Azula landed on her feet and pointed two fingers at Aang and Katara and stared in between the three to see who would make the first move.
Soana was in her fighting stance, ready to attack the Fire Nation princess with any sudden move she could make. The quiet was suspenseful until a gulp of flames was exploding in front of Aang.
Zuko stood with his fist pointed at his sister but it wasn't until he saw the Avatar that he moved his fist his way and shot a line of flames at him.
"No!" Soana said, risking the strain in her voice.
Azula knee Soana was distracted so she punched a blue flame at her but the princess was quick enough to bend a shield of water and freeze it to cover her.
Katara took Azula's threat to Soana personally and protected the princess by bending water onto her arms, making them look like tentacles.
Repeatedly, Zuko punched flames out of each fist like his life depended on it. From witnessing this, Soana grew angered and started bending the water to form a wave.
She grunted with effort as she whipped it at Zuko, trying to knock him over at least, but just like his sister, he was as agile as her when it came to dodging other people's bending.
Aang leaped from rock to rock on the ceiling of the catacomb, trying to get away from Zuko's assaults while Katara fended herself from Azula while protecting Soana simultaneously.
After Aang sliced a spike of rock from the top of the cave he used all of his strength to push it down, causing Zuko to knock into a tall structure of crystals.
Soana stood cautiously in fighting stance as she noticed him get back up.
"I thought you would actually change." She said through gritted teeth.
"I have, but I have to do this."
"What do you mean?"
Zuko narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists.
"When my nation takes over Ba Sing Se, I will have my honor and we will be married."
This only made Soana livid. Being told what her future will hold by someone so naive was the last thing she wanted.
"I think I'm starting to get cold feet, Zuko. Since you decided to change at the worst time!"
Grunting loudly, Soana formed icicles on her fingers and threw them at Zuko only for him to roundhouse kick a line of flame, causing them to melt instantly.
"I don't want to fight you, Soana!" He said.
"No, but I do! All you care about is how you look for your father!" She bended a wave of water that he quickly dodged by leaping out of the way.
He fell on his back as he watched Soana heading towards him.
"Have you ever thought about what you really want? Or have you lost your mind? Cause, frankly, I think you've lost it!" She grunted, throwing a sharp slice of water at his feet as he crawled backwards on the floor to get away.
"You are a liar!" She shouted throwing another as he cowardly backed away.
"You're weak!" She shouted, throwing another and making him frantically back away from her until he was against a crystal with nowhere to go.
"And you have no heart!" She lifted her hand in the air as he formed an X with his arms to protect himself.
Suddenly he heard a loud crack erupt through the catacombs. He lowered his arms to see what had happened.
Right when he saw the crazed look in her eyes, he noticed her body stiffen and a blue hue surround her body.
When she fell to the floor, almost lifelessly with an evident black spot on the back of her robe, Zuko saw Azula pointing her two fingers at where Soana had stood before.
"What did you do!" He shouted at Azula.
His sister had rolled her eyes.
"She was annoying me. Relax, Zuzu, I only shocked her a little."